Protein kinases constitute one of the largest families of human enzymes and regulate many different signaling processes by adding phosphate groups to proteins (T. Hunter, Cell 1987 50:823-829). Specifically, tyrosine kinases phosphorylate proteins on the phenolic moiety of tyrosine residues. The tyrosine kinase family includes members that control cell growth, migration, and differentiation. Abnormal kinase activity has been implicated in a variety of human diseases including cancers, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Since protein kinases are among the key regulators of cell signaling, they provide a target to modulate cellular function with small molecular kinase inhibitors and thus make good drug targets. In addition to treatment of kinase-mediated disease processes, selective and efficacious inhibitors of kinase activity are also useful for investigation of cell signaling processes and identification of other cellular targets of therapeutic interest.
There is good evidence that B-cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and/or inflammatory disease. Protein-based therapeutics that deplete B cells such as Rituxan are effective against autoantibody-driven inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (Rastetter et al. Annu Rev Med 2004 55:477). Therefore inhibitors of the protein kinases that play a role in B-cell activation should be useful therapeutics for B-cell mediated disease pathology, such as autoantibody production.
Signaling through the B-cell receptor (BCR) controls a range of B-cell responses including proliferation and differentiation into mature antibody producing cells. The BCR is a key regulatory point for B-cell activity and aberrant signaling can cause deregulated B-cell proliferation and formation of pathogenic autoantibodies that lead to multiple autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) is a non-BCR associated kinase that is membrane proximal and immediately downstream from BCR. Lack of BTK has been shown to block BCR signaling and therefore inhibition of BTK could be a useful therapeutic approach to block B-cell mediated disease processes. Also, BTK has been reported to play a role in apoptosis (Islam and Smith Immunol. Rev. 2000 178:49) and thus BTK inhibitors would be useful for the treatment of certain B-cell lymphomas and leukemias (Feldhahn et al. J. Exp. Med. 2005 201:1837).
BTK is a member of the Tec family of tyrosine kinases, and has been shown to be a critical regulator of early B-cell development and mature B-cell activation and survival (Khan et al. Immunity 1995 3:283; Ellmeier et al. J. Exp. Med. 2000 192:1611). Mutation of BTK in humans leads to the condition X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) (reviewed in Rosen et al. New Eng. J. Med. 1995 333:431 and Lindvall et al. Immunol. Rev. 2005 203:200). These patients are immune-compromised and show impaired maturation of B-cells, decreased immunoglobulin and peripheral B-cell levels, diminished T-cell independent immune responses as well as attenuated calcium mobilization following BCR stimulation.
Evidence for a role for BTK in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has also been provided by BTK-deficient mouse models. In preclinical murine models of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), BTK-deficient mice show marked amelioration of disease progression. In addition, BTK-deficient mice are resistant to collagen-induced arthritis (Jansson and Holmdahl Clin. Exp. Immunol. 1993 94:459). A selective BTK inhibitor has demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy in a mouse arthritis model (Z. Pan et al., Chem. Med Chem. 2007 2:58-61).
BTK is also expressed by cells other than B-cells that may be involved in disease processes. BTK is key component of Fc-gamma signaling in myeloid cells. For example, BTK is expressed by mast cells and BTK-deficient bone marrow derived mast cells demonstrate impaired antigen induced degranulation (Iwaki et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2005 280:40261). This shows BTK could be useful to treat pathological mast cells responses such as allergy and asthma. Also monocytes from XLA patients, in which BTK activity is absent, show decreased TNF alpha production following stimulation (Horwood et al. J Exp Med 197:1603, 2003). Therefore TNF alpha mediated inflammation could be modulated by small molecular BTK inhibitors.